Two African-American employees filed a class-action lawsuit against CNN and Turner Broadcasting alleging racial discrimination — and sources tell Page Six that some staff previously urged CNN boss Jeff Zucker to diversify the network’s leadership team.
Daniel Meachum, a lawyer for the plaintiffs who has repped Denzel Washington and Wesley Snipes, told us that since the suit was filed Wednesday in Atlanta federal court, he’s had “over 125 calls and e-mails in less than 24 hours from past and current employees writing with their own horror stories.”
He says the suit’s an “underground railroad” that could bring more cases to light.
In court documents, Celeslie Henley, a former CNN assistant of seven years, and Ernest Colbert Jr., a Turner senior manager who’s been at the company for 20 years, allege discrimination over compensation, evaluations and promotions.
An insider told us, “There has been great discord internally [over] the [CNN] leadership and digital leadership team . . . Employees who care about this have urged Zucker to diversify.”
CNN declined to comment.